12.05.18

Give Your Interior Design a Boost – Hire a Lighting Designer.

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Gensler Newport Beach teamed up with Moritz Hammer, Principal at KGM Architectural Lighting to complement their interior design on the T2 Development project with a great lighting solution.

Light Build Design sat down with Moritz Hammer to talk about the process.

1. When it came to this particular project, what was the biggest challenge?

The design is an interesting blend of open office and hospitality. Besides the usual private and open offices, the programming included lounge areas, a food service area and executive suites. Our challenge was to create a lighting design that unified these different spaces while accentuating the various functions.

2. How was this challenge overcome/resolved?

Linear light patterns were used to visually connect spaces through wood slat ceiling as well as ACT tile. A light cove along the circular hallway guides foot traffic around the perimeter while maintaining a clean ceiling design. Accent lights and wall washers are used to highlight furniture and vertical surfaces to create contrast and layers of light.

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3. What advice would you give to your younger self, when you first started in the business?

The design and building industry offer many interesting job opportunities. If you find yourself doing something that does not satisfy or challenge you enough, look for other opportunities that might suit you better.

4. What are the top 5 things you look for when selecting a lighting application for projects?

Understanding the design is of utmost importance. The lighting should complement and enhance the design ideas. Once we have concepts in mind about what we would like to see, we select the appropriate tools (light fixtures) based on our needs. Those needs include many variables such as, do we want to see the light source such as a glowing lens or would we rather want to shield the light source as much as possible. What light levels do we want to achieve? How much flexibility do we need? What are our budgetary restrictions?

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5. How did Light Build Design assist with this project?

Light Build Design was an integral part in the success of the project. Many design features required careful and constant coordination with the manufacturers regarding shop drawings, connection details and most importantly and ever challenging construction schedule.

6. Pros/Cons of your industry?

Lighting Designers get to work with many different architects and designers with amazing talents on a variety of project types. This exposure to design talent and the variety of projects is incredibly rewarding.

On the flip side the amount of projects and deadlines that a Lighting Designer has to juggle every week can be overwhelming.

7. Favorite thing about your job/profession?

Coming up with an innovative idea and seeing it being realized. Lighting Design is so special since you can only imagine the end result. If you design something that has not been done before, you rely on your experience to predict the outcome as closely as possible. Seeing the successful execution and how the light brings out the best in the architecture and interior design is my absolute favorite moment.

To read more about the project, click here.

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